RESUMO
Background: Many generations of esthetic materials have been introduced in the market, the most popular being the composites. Bioactive restorative materials are a recent development in restorative dentistry. However, the main cause of secondary caries is the development of bacterial plaque on these restorations. Current in vitro study was conducted to assess the antibacterial properties of three common composites. Materials and Methods: Only a single parameter was assessed in this study, which was the bacterial colonies on each of the material blocks that were confined in the same experimental conditions. For this assessment, three composite materials were used that were made into blocks of 10 each. "Beautifil Flow Plus X" and "ACTIVA BioACTIVE" were used as the interventional groups, while "Filtek Z250 XT" was used as the control. Streptococcus mutans was used as an antibacterial test subject, and confocal laser scanning microscopy was used to observe the results. Results: When compared to other groups, ACTIVA BioACTIVE exhibited the highest quantity of dead bacteria on the material surface. There was significant variance among the three composites in the number of live and dead bacterial colonies. Conclusion: The highest antibacterial efficacy among the evaluated materials allows for a conclusion.